OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.
This from Maggie Nelmes, Ventnor. Ed
Although the majority of UK citizens would say they love animals, behind the scenes a great deal of animal cruelty is taking place in our country, in intensive farming for food production, in zoos and animal laboratories, in the snaring, hunting and culling of wildlife, and in puppy smuggling.
Demands of the Animal Welfare Manifesto
I have just emailed the general election candidates in my constituency to ask them to pledge to support the following Animal Welfare Manifesto demands, if they are elected to Parliament.
- Animal Protection Commissioner: Appointment of a commissioner and cross-government animal protection strategy to benefit people, planet and animals.
- Trade: Bans on trading in cruelty, including stopping imports of fur, foie gras and hunting trophies, trading in live animals for food, and adopting core welfare standards in trade.
- Intensive farming: Use of subsidies to support farmers to transition away from factory farming including cages and crates, and towards food production that is healthier, kinder, and more sustainable.
- Wildlife: Stronger protections including a complete UK ban on snares and glue traps, updated laws to protect marine animals, tighter laws on zoos and exotic animal keeping and trade and extending maximum sentences for wildlife offences.
- Animal testing: A government-led roadmap with an ambitious plan to end all experiments on animals, alongside strategic funding to accelerate the uptake and development of non-animal methods in research and testing.
- Hunting: Strengthening the Hunting Act 2004 by banning trail hunting and removing exemptions that enable hunting.
- Badger cull: An end to the ineffective and unscientific badger cull, and investment in an effective bovine TB plan that prioritises animal welfare.
- Aquatic animals: Increased legal protections for fish in existing farms, and suspension of permissions for new salmon farms pending an independent welfare inquiry; addition of decapod crustaceans and cephalopods to the Animal Welfare Act and ending sales of live crustaceans to the public.
- Shooting: A ban on the cruel and environmentally harmful industrial production and release of pheasants and partridges for shooting.
- Dogs: Stronger laws to stop puppy smuggling and a review of the Dangerous Dogs Act to improve public safety and dog welfare through sensible dog control legislation and promotion of responsible dog ownership.
Will you join me? Follow the link to take action.
